Alaska Adds Geothermal Option to Upcoming Oil, Gas Lease Sales

Alaska will offer potential developers the chance to explore geothermal resources at an active volcano in Cook Inlet, the state's oldest producing oil and gas basin, state officials said on Monday.

The geothermal lease sale on May 8 will coincide with oil and gas lease sales, the state Department of Natural Resources said. The state will offer oil and gas exploration rights around Cook Inlet and the Alaska Peninsula, an area of southwestern Alaska that has had only limited petroleum exploration.

The geothermal piece is 66,000 acres at Mount Augustine, a 4,134-foot island volcano 180 miles southwest of Anchorage and 60 miles southwest of the Kenai Peninsula town of Homer.